HOLLYWOOD—The 2021 Grammy Nominees were announced on Tuesday, November 23 and per usual the Grammy Nominations left a few people left, a few people left and many wondering what happened to the Grammys that didn’t have 10 to 15 people nominated in a single category. I mean hell let’s just nominate everyone people. It was Jon Batiste, I must admit I don’t know that name whatsoever, who earned the most nominations with a total of 11, yes, you heard me right 11, including Album of the Year for “We Are.” Considering he is far ahead of everyone else, you would make the argument he is the front runner people.
Followed behind, but not too close were Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R. who each picked up 8 nominations apiece. They’ll also compete in the Album of the Year race with Batiste. Billie Eilish and newcomer Olivia Rodrigo each picked up 7 nominations apiece including Album of the Year as well. I would say I’m impressed with the diversity in the nominees this year. People were chatting though that Drake was snubbed in some of the major categories, in addition, Kacey Musgraves did not see much from the Recording Academy either.
BTS was NOT nominated in either the Record or Song of the Year category which baffles me to the core. I mean these guys had one of the ubiquitous hits of the year with Butter. Not much love either for Ariana Grande or last year’s darling Megan Thee Stallion. I could NOT definitively indicate any standouts in the Record or Song of the Year races that have the edge over any others. A partial list of this year’s nominees can be viewed below:
Album Of The Year
-Jon Batiste “We Are”
-Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga “Love For Sale”
-Justin Bieber “Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)”
-Doja Cat “Planet Her (Deluxe)”
-Billie Eilish “Happier Than Ever”
-H.E.R. “Back Of My Mind”
-Lil Nas X “Montero”
-Olivia Rodrigo “Sour”
-Taylor Swift “Evermore”
-Kanye West “Donda”
Record Of The Year
-“I Still Have Faith In You” — ABBA
-“Freedom” — Jon Batiste
-“I Get A Kick Out Of You” — Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
-“Peaches” — Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
-“Right On Time” — Brandi Carlile
-“Kiss Me More” — Doja Cat Featuring SZA
“Happier Than Ever” — Billie Eilish
“Montero” (Call Me By Your Name) — Lil Nas X
“drivers license” — Olivia Rodrigo
“Leave The Door Open” — Silk Sonic
Song Of The Year
“Bad Habits” — Fred Gibson, Johnny McDaid & Ed Sheeran, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
“A Beautiful Noise” — Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Linda Perry & Hailey Whitters, songwriters (Alicia Keys Featuring Brandi Carlile)
“drivers license” — Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
“Fight For You” — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Happier Than Ever” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Kiss Me More” — Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Carter Lang, Gerard A. Powell II, Solána Rowe & David Sprecher, songwriters (Doja Cat Featuring SZA)
“Leave The Door Open” — Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Silk Sonic)
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” — Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Omer Fedi, Montero Hill & Roy Lenzo, songwriters (Lil Nas X)
“Peaches” — Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha “Fury” King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manual Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman & Keavan Yazdani, songwriters (Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon)
“Right On Time” — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
Best New Artist
-Arooj Aftab
-Jimmie Allen
-Baby Keem
-FINNEAS
-Glass Animals
-Japanese Breakfast
-The Kid Laroi
-Arlo Parks
-Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Best Pop Vocal Album
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) — Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) — Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever — Billie Eilish
Positions — Ariana Grande
Sour — Olivia Rodrigo
Best R&B Album
-Snoh Aalegra “Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies”
-Jon Batiste “We Are”
-Leon Bridges “Gold-Diggers Sound”
-H.E.R. “Back Of My Mind”
-Jazmin Sullivan “Heaux Tales”
Best Rap Album
The Off Season — J. Cole
Certified Lover Boy — Drake
King’s Disease II — Nas
Call Me If You Get Lost — Tyler, The Creator
Donda — Kanye West
Best Rock Album
-AC/DC “Power Up”
-Black Pumas “Capitol Cuts – Live From Studio A”
-Chris Cornell “No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1”
-Foo Fighters “Medicine At Midnight”
-Paul McCartney “McCartney III”
Best Country Album
–Brothers Osborne “Skeletons”
-Mickey Guyton “Remember Her Name”
-Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall & Jack Ingram “The Marfa Tapes”
-Sturgill Simpson “The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita”
-Chris Stapleton “Starting Over”
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Monday, January 31, on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on demand on Paramount+ from 8–11:30 p.m. ET / 5–8:30 p.m. PT. Prior to the telecast, the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will be held at the Microsoft Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on GRAMMY.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel (opens in a new tab).
